Statement of Senator Jim
Jeffords
Montpelier, VT
August 20, 2002
Welcome to our first Vermont field hearing of the Committee on Environment and
Public Works. I especially want to
thank Deputy Secretary Jackson, of the United States Department of
Transportation, for being here.
“Together, the united
forces of our communication and transportation systems are dynamic elements in
the very name we bear – the United States. Without them, we would be a
mere alliance of many separate parts.”
With those words, President Eisenhower announced his
massive effort in the 1950s to modernize America’s highways “as necessary to
our defense, as it is to our national economy and personal safety.” The
committee I chair will craft a national transportation bill next year, for the
next generation of Americans.
In 1819, the Congress created the Select Committee
on Public Buildings which became this Committee on Environment and
Public Works – with authority over major issues including the environment,
roads, rivers, harbors, the Coast Guard, water and air pollution, and the transportation bill.
Past
members of the Committee include two Presidents – Harry S. Truman and Andrew
Johnson – and five Vice-Presidents of the United States.
Two of my best friends have served on this committee
as chairmen: Vermont’s Senator Bob
Stafford and Rhode Island Senator John H. Chafee, whose son now serves on the
EPW Committee.
I am thrilled to be back in the Vermont State
House. I have very fond memories of
working in these rooms.
I am here, today, to learn from Vermont. While the next transportation bill will be
national in scope, it will be driven by local input.
This transportation bill will not just be about
paving new roads. Under my
chairmanship, it will be about making America stronger, helping rural
communities, protecting the environment, creating thousands of good jobs,
making commerce flow, keeping families safer, and enhancing rural economic
growth.
In
the process, I will not forget the special needs of our senior citizens, nor
will I forget our youngest citizens.
Parents should not have to worry whether the school bus will make it to
school, and children should not have to worry whether their parents will make
it home from work.
Three million highway injuries a year, including
over 40,000 deaths, is unacceptable. The total economic cost of motor vehicle
crashes in the year 2000 was $230 billion
– 5 times the cost of the Eisenhower proposal. There are no complete
guarantees in life, but I assure you that I will work toward passing the most
safety conscious – and the most environmentally sensitive – transportation bill
ever.
Much needs to be done in Vermont. We have 15,000 miles of public roads and
over 2,000 bridges that must be properly maintained.
We need to support commerce. Nationwide, the percentage of freight
carried by trucks is projected to increase at least 45 percent by 2010. An improved rail system in Vermont would
help us prevent that truck congestion.
I will work to protect our New England heritage and
communities. I want to do what is right
for the Nation, but through local-decision making.
I am interested in harnessing new technologies and
creative ideas to get Americans safely on the move.
The events of 9/11 have raised the ante as we work
to better safeguard Americans in transit B whether it is families driving
across a bridge or fully loaded passenger trains.
Worldwide, roughly one-third of terrorist attacks
target transportation systems. Another challenge will be our aging population –
the population aged 85, and older, will increase 20 percent in the next 6
years.
On a separate front, emissions from vehicles include
lead, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, other harmful pollutants, and air
particles that expose us to health problems – including cancer.
This is hardly what parents want their children to
inhale while playing in the backyard. Scott
Johnstone, the head of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources, testified in
front of me down in Washington, DC, just a few weeks ago. He said that surface
transportation remains the largest in-state source of air pollution in
Vermont.
Traffic pollution is also a major cause of
greenhouse gas emissions and we must act now to protect our planet.
One of my top priorities will be to spend
wisely. A recent report showed that
every $1 spent on road maintenance – while the roads were still in good
condition – saved up to $10 in costs to
repair the road, once the road fell into poor condition.
While the transportation bill presents many
challenges – some of which I have just mentioned – it also offers great
opportunities.
For example, each one billion dollars spent in a
transportation bill can create 44,000 full-time jobs.
My goals for this bill include a cleaner
environment, a strong Vermont economy, safer families and healthier
communities, more Vermont jobs, and a transportation system for Vermont based
on Vermont’s needs.
I am very pleased that we will be hearing from a number of witnesses today, including Secretary Jackson. I look forward to working with him on this major effort. Also, we will hear from:
·
Debra
Ricker, Associated General Contractors of Vermont;
I also want to invite anyone in the audience to
submit written testimony to me by sending it to the: EPW Committee, Room 410 Dirksen, Washington, D.C. 20510.
Please send your ideas to me by September 5.